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Winston has already passed for 245 yards at the half but the turnover was huge.
DENVER — Find the flipcard. Let’s get this straight. Nik Bonitto officially is an outside linebacker, not a pass rusher.
He’s a very good pass rusher, as he entered play Monday night ranked third in the league with 10 sacks.
But an outside linebacker not only rushes the passer, but stops the run and covers receivers.
Bonitto dropped in coverage late in the first half and not only picked off a Jameis Winston pass, but returned it 71 yards for a touchdown that gave the home-team Broncos a 21-10 lead against the Cleveland Browns. Winston bounced right back with a quick touchdown drive as the Browns closed to 21-17 at the intermission before an energized, primetime sellout crowd at Empower Field at Mile High.
The Browns had outgained the Broncos, 298 yrds to 142 in the first half.
With the kickoff temperature in the mid-40s, dropping to mid-30s by halftime on a clear night, the teams were tied, 7-7 after the first quarter. Each quarterback got hot on their second possession. Broncos rookie Bo Nix completed 5 of 7 passes for 52 yards on the possession – and had a perfect throw dropped by Courtland Sutton – before running back Javonte Williams walked in from 2 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Winston answered with three big passes, most notably a 44-yard completion to Elijah Moore, who shook cornerback Levi Wallace, who was replacing the injured Riley Moss. Winston finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end David Njoku. It was knotted, 7-7.
The Browns came up with an interception off Nix – Denzel Ward knocked a throw to Troy Franklin on hook pattern into the air and it was gathered by Greg Newsome II. Winston and running back Jerome Ford moved the ball close enough for Dustin Hopkins to knock a 45-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead with just under 9 minutes remaining in the half.
Nix hit a lull for three series that ended with three-and-outs but he found his rhythm midway through the second quarter. It began with a touch pass down the left sideline to Sutton, who easily beat man coverage for 19 yards.
Then Nix slid left in the pocket and found open backup tight end Nate Adkins for 16. Finally a well-conceived wide screen to rookie Troy Franklin, who scooted 23 yards to the Cleveland 1 yard line. Michael Burton took it in on a fullback dive and the Broncos were up, 14-10 with 4:03 left in the half.
Winston drove the Browns down to near field-goal position with less than 2 minutes remaining in the half but he didn’t see Bonitto drop in front of backup tight end Jordan Akins in the flat. Bonitto showed not only good hands but terrific speed on his touchdown return. The Broncos were up 21-10.
To Winston’s credit, he kept on firing. He drove the Browns 70 yards in 85 seconds. Back-to-back completions to former Broncos Jerry Jeudy for 16 and 13 yards keyed the march. The series ended with Winston lofting a second touchdown pass to Njoku, this from 4 yards out, with just 13 seconds left.
Winston had thrown for 245 yards in the first half while Nix was 9 of 18 for 100 yards.
Bronco Bits
With his second extra point made, Broncos kicker Wil Lutz reached 1,000 career points. It came in his 127th career game making him the fifth fastest NFL kicker to reach the milestone. (Four fastest: Justin Tucker, Stephen Gostkowski, Mason Crosby and Mike Vanderjagt. …
Jeudy was near-unstoppable in the first half, snagging five catches for 97 yards. …
The Broncos decided against activating veteran receiver Josh Reynolds from injured reserve in time for the game Monday night. Reynolds has been down since suffering a fractured finger in a week 5 game against the Raiders. The finger has been healed for a while now but the Broncos are waiting to decide on whether to activate him on their 53-man roster until the last possible day, which is Wednesday. Reynolds is guaranteed to make $4.31 million this year. None of his $4.5 million for 2025 is guaranteed.
While on IR, Reynolds was a victim of a drive-by shooting in which Luis Mendoza, 35, and Burr Charlesworth, 42 were arrested on multiple charges, including six counts each of attempted murder. …
Rookie guard-center Nick Gargiulo again was elevated from the practice squad but again was inactive for the game against the Browns. It’s the second consecutive week Gargiulo was elevated but not activated – an indication another team expressed interest in signing him away but the Broncos added some sweeteners to keep him. …
Williams only had 1 yard off 4 carries at halftime. This after he had -2 yards rushing off 8 carries the previous week against the Raiders. …
The Browns lined up with two tight ends, one off each offensive tackle to help stem Denver’s NFL-leading pass rush. The Broncos had just one sack at halftime, at that was a hustle tackle for no gain by rookie Jonah Elliss.
PHOTOS | Broncos vs. Browns
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